As most people who grew up in Stockton in the last 30 years know, you have to drive to get anywhere. Haircut. Dentist appointment. Ice cream. Bank deposit. You name it, you are driving there. As it turns out, this car-first attitude could have a detrimental effect on how children growing up in Stockton feel about their communities.
New research indicates that kids who grow up being driven everywhere show a greater dissatisfaction with their surroundings than children in areas with infrastructure and neighborhood patterns that allow for more walking/biking. Even more alarming, kids in car-dependent areas exhibited weaker ties to their communities. In Stockton, these findings imply that our pattern of growth over the last three decades has inadvertently fostered a disconnect between the city and its residents.
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